Winston Churchill

My Early Life: The Autobiography


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       Winston Churchill

      My Early Life: The Autobiography

      Published by

      Books

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      2018 OK Publishing

      ISBN 978-80-272-4215-3

       Author's Preface

       Chapter I Childhood

       Chapter II Harrow

       Chapter III Examinations

       Chapter IV Sandhurst

       Chapter V The Fourth Hussars

       Chapter VI Cuba

       Chapter VII Hounslow

       Chapter VIII India

       Chapter IX Education at Bangalore

       Chapter X The Malakand Field Force

       Chapter XI The Mamund Valley

       Chapter XII The Tirah Expedition

       Chapter XIII A Difficulty With Kitchener

       Chapter XIV The Eve of Omdurman

       Chapter XV The Sensations of a Cavalry Charge

       Chapter XVI I Leave the Army

       Chapter XVII Oldham

       Chapter XVIII With Buller to the Cape

       Chapter XIX The Armoured Train

       Chapter XX In Durance Vile

       Chapter XXI I Escape from the Boers—I

       Chapter XXII I Escape from the Boers—II

       Chapter XXIII Back to the Army

       Chapter XXIV Spion Kop

       Chapter XXV The Relief of Ladysmith

       Chapter XXVI In the Orange Free State

       Chapter XXVII Johannesburg and Pretoria

       Chapter XXVIII The Khaki Election

       Chapter XXIX The House of Commons

      Author's Preface

       Table of Contents

      Various accounts having appeared from time to time of my early life and adventures, and I myself having published thirty years ago stories of the several campaigns in which I took part, and having written later about particular episodes, I have thought it right to bring the whole together in a single complete story; and to tell the tale, such as it is, anew. I have therefore not only searched my memory, but have most carefully verified my facts from the records which I possess. I have tried, in each part of the quarter-century in which this tale lies, to show the point of view appropriate to my years, whether as a child, a schoolboy, a cadet, a subaltern, a war-correspondent, or a youthful politician. If these opinions conflict with those now generally accepted, they must be taken merely as representing a phase in my early life, and not in any respect, except where the context warrants, as modern pronouncements.

      When I survey this work as a whole I find I have drawn a picture of a vanished age. The character of society, the foundations of politics, the methods of war, the outlook of youth, the scale of values, are all changed, and changed to an extent I should not have believed possible in so short a space without any violent domestic revolution. I cannot pretend to feel that they are in all respects changed for the better. I was a child of the Victorian era, when the structure of our country seemed firmly set, when its position in trade and on the seas was unrivalled, and when the realization of the greatness of our Empire and of our duty to preserve it was ever growing stronger. In those days the dominant forces in Great Britain were very sure of themselves and of their doctrines. They thought they could teach the world the art of government, and the science of economics. They were sure they were supreme at sea and consequently safe at home. They rested therefore sedately under the convictions of power and security. Very different is the aspect of these anxious and dubious times. Full allowance for such changes should be made by friendly readers.

      I have thought that it might be of interest to the new generation to read a story of youthful endeavour, and I have set down candidly and with as much simplicity as possible my personal fortunes.

      WINSTON SPENCER CHURCHILL.

       CHARTWELL MANOR,

       August, 1930.

      Chapter I

       Childhood

       Table of Contents

      When does one first begin to remember? When do the waving lights and shadows of dawning consciousness cast their print upon the mind of a child? My earliest memories are Ireland. I can recall scenes and events in Ireland quite well, and sometimes dimly, even people. Yet I was born on November 30, 1874, and I left Ireland early in the year 1879. My father had gone to Ireland as